The Oxford handbook of social influence

In: Oxford library of psychology

In: Oxford handbooks online

Abstract

The study of social influence has been central to social psychology since its inception. In fact, research on social influence began in the 1880s, predating the coining of the term social psychology. The area's influence continued through the 1960s, when it made seminal contributions at the beginning of social psychology's golden age, but by the mid-1980s, interest in this area had waned. Now the pendulum is swinging back, as seen in growing interest in motivational accounts. The chapters in this volume, written by leading scholars, cover a variety of topics in social influence, incorporating a range of levels of analysis (intrapersonal, interpersonal, and intragroup) and both source and target effects.